Anti-protest laws in Ukraine

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On January 16, 2014, known popularly as Black Thursday, the Parliament of Ukraine ratified—and President Viktor Yanukovych signed into law the following day—a group of ten laws restricting freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. The laws were passed amid massive anti-government protests that started in November. The laws are collectively known as the "dictatorship laws" (Template:Lang-uk) by Euromaidan activists, non-governmental organizations, and the Ukrainian media. The opposition parties claimed the legislation was adopted with a number of procedural violations in what they described a coup d'etat. These laws have been described in the media and by experts as "draconian", and have effectively established the nation as a dictatorship. The laws were widely denounced internationally, with US Secretary of State John Kerry describing them as "anti-democratic".

The laws were developed by MPs from the ruling Party of Regions Vadym Kolesnychenko and Volodymyr Oliynyk and supported a voting bloc consisting of the Party of Regions, Communist Party and some independent MPs. Western nations have criticised the bills for their undemocratic nature and their ability to significantly curb the rights to protest, free speech and the activity of non-governmental organisations. In accordance with enforcing the new laws, Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko pledged that "each offence will be met by our side harshly."

Procedure

When adopting the laws the Parliament violated a number of its own procedural rules. The laws were voted mostly by showing of hands (which in principle is allowed by the Rules of Procedure but only when there're no “technical possibility” to vote through electronic system) but without proper counting – hands were “counted” within few seconds, based on the number of MPs included in the parliamentary groups, while many MPs were in fact absent. Most of the laws were adopted without prior consideration in the parliament’s committees as required and with no time for examining the laws even by the MPs.

Provisions

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The laws have provisions such as:

Process of removal of parliamentary immunity during criminal proceedings was simplified to majority vote in the Verkhovna Rada. No longer requiring prior review by the relevant Parliamentary committee;
Amnesty from prosecution previously adopted by the Verkhovna Rada (were inapplicable, expected to grant to peaceful protestors who participated in protests since November 21, 2013) has now been refined to be applicable and extended to also exempt from punishment those who committed crimes against protestors, including Berkut security forces and other law enforcement officials;
Allowing trial in absentia of individuals, including prison terms, in cases where the person refuses to appear in court and when criminal proceedings in absence of such person are pronounced possible;
Simplified procedures for serving summons and filing administrative protocols;
Blocking access to residential buildings, up to six years in jail;

Motorcade of more than 5 cars driving together if will cause traffic disruption, face loss of drivers license and vehicle for up to two years (unless obtained permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs);
Gathering and disseminating information about Berkut, judges or their families, up to 2 years in jail;
Defamation including via press or social media, up to one year in jail
Law enforcement officials involved in similar activities and their families face a maximum prison term of six months;
Blocking government buildings, up to five years in jail;
Up to 15 days arrest for unauthorised installation of tents, stages and sound equipment;
Anti-mask law with provision up to 15 days arrest for participation in peaceful gatherings wearing a mask, helmet or other means of concealing one’s face;
NGOs that accept foreign funds must register as "foreign agents" and face high scrutiny, additional tax measures;
Mandatory licensing of Internet providers;
Government may take the decision to apply Internet censorship;
A broad definition of "extremist activities" adopted disallows NGOs and churches from engaging in support of civil protests.

Reactions

Domestic

The Ukrainian opposition warned the new measures would further inflame the protest movement, and called for a big gathering in the capital Kiev on Sunday.

Former Prime-Minister of Ukraine, jailed oppositional politician Yulia Tymoshenko on the ground of adopting this disputed laws said the following:

I ask the opposition and civil society to act quickly and decisively because we won’t be defending the law, which Yanukovych humiliated on January 16, but Ukrainian parliamentary system which is the final barricade before the total establishment of dictatorship. I ask the opposition to act immediately.

The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People denounced the laws, stating "The government has moved into an open attack on the fundamental rights and freedoms, including adopting a cynical failure of parliamentary procedures and democratic principles laws that violate the Constitution and international obligations of Ukraine, restrict the right to free assembly, free speech and the media," and warned against the use of violence in protests helping to establish the Yanukovych regime as a dictatorship.

Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovy declared the laws unconstitutional and that they would not be enforced in the city.

International

European Union — In a tweet on Thursday following the events in parliament, European Union Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said he was "profoundly concerned by new legislation limiting freedoms". He said the move contradicted Ukraine's "European aspirations" and its commitments in the European Union - Ukraine Association Agreement, which President Yanukovych abruptly refused to sign in November, amid Russian economic pressure.
United States — Secretary of State John Kerry said "the legislation that was rammed through the Rada (parliament) without transparency and accountability violates all the norms of the OSCE and the EU." He further described the laws as "anti-democratic".

NGOs

Misplaced Pages - Announced a daily shutdown of the Ukrainian language version of the encyclopedia from January 21 onward from 4:00-4:30pm in protest of the laws. The site announced the shutdown in a declaration titled Against Censorship.

References

Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity

21 November 2013 – 23 February 2014

Main
topics

Main
events

Aftermath

Elections

Main
places

European
integration

Protest
figures

Organizations	Maidan People's Union Euromaidan Press Parliamentary opposition parties Batkivshchyna Svoboda UDAR Other parties Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists Democratic Alliance UNA–UNSO United Left and Peasants Civic organizations Automaidan Road Control Vidsich Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Militant groups Right Sector Spilna Sprava
Lead figures	Vitali Klitschko Arseniy Yatsenyuk Oleh Tyahnybok Petro Poroshenko Yuriy Lutsenko Oleksandr Turchynov Yulia Tymoshenko Andriy Parubiy Andriy Sadovyi Arsen Avakov Ruslana Tetiana Chornovol Dmytro Bulatov Dmytro Yarosh Refat Chubarov

Anti-protest
figures

Organizations	Second Azarov government Ministry of Internal Affairs Internal Troops of Ukraine Security Service of Ukraine Berkut Militsiya (Ukraine) Party of Regions Titushky Night Wolves Don Cossacks Antimaidan
Lead figures	Viktor Yanukovych Mykola Azarov Serhiy Arbuzov Vitaliy Zakharchenko Oleksandr Yefremov Andriy Klyuyev Hennadiy Kernes Mykhailo Dobkin Viktor Pshonka Olena Lukash Yuriy Boyko Leonid Kozhara Dmytro Tabachnyk Oleksandr Klymenko

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